01 · The agreement trap
Se vende casa en el centro.
House for sale downtown.
Se vende agrees with what's being sold — casa is singular, so the verb stays singular too. Miss this and it sounds off to a local ear.
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Voice Over
Explain how things are done — customs, signs, recipes — without naming anyone, out loud.
Spanish drops the "someone" and lets se carry the sentence — but the two constructions behave differently. Passive se agrees with the noun: Se vende casa but Se venden coches de segunda mano, Se necesita experiencia but Se necesitan voluntarios. Impersonal se stays singular and describes customs and norms: En España se cena muy tarde; Se trabaja mucho en esta empresa. With people, add a: Se eligió a María como presidenta — never Se eligió María. It's also the grammar of every sign you'll read: Se prohíbe fumar, Se requiere carné de identidad.
Below: se on signs, in recipes, and in everyday talk, what the same notice says in Mexico vs Argentina, the agreement slips to avoid — and a way to use it all in live conversation, no worksheets involved.
The warm-up pack
How to talk about signs, recipes and customs without ever naming who's doing it.
01 · The agreement trap
Se vende casa en el centro.
House for sale downtown.
Se vende agrees with what's being sold — casa is singular, so the verb stays singular too. Miss this and it sounds off to a local ear.
02 · Same construction, plural
Se venden coches de segunda mano.
Second-hand cars for sale.
Same rule, plural now: coches is plural, so venden picks up the -n. The noun decides, not the seller.
03 · The sign you'll actually read
Se prohíbe fumar en el edificio.
Smoking is prohibited in the building.
This is the grammar behind almost every sign you'll pass in Spanish — no 'you' addressed, no one named.
04 · The recipe voice
Se cortan las verduras en trozos pequeños.
The vegetables are cut into small pieces.
Recipes run on se, one ingredient at a time — the verb just tracks what's in front of it: las verduras, plural, cortan.
05 · Narrating a whole recipe
Se hornea a 180 grados durante media hora.
It is baked at 180 degrees for half an hour.
Singular this time — 180 degrees, one oven. Same rule, different number, and it stops being a formula once you say it out loud.
06 · How a whole country does something
En España se cena muy tarde.
In Spain people eat dinner very late.
This is how you describe a country's habits without pointing at anyone in particular — just 'this is what happens here'.
07 · The impersonal 'you can'
Se puede llegar en tren o en autobús.
You can get there by train or bus.
No specific person is doing the arriving — se puede just states what's generally possible.
08 · When there's a person involved
Se eligió a María como presidenta.
María was chosen as president.
The one exception: with a named person, add a — se eligió a María, never se eligió María on its own.
09 · Reporting what people say
Se dice que va a haber cambios.
They say there are going to be changes.
The grammar of gossip and news alike — no one owns the claim, it's just what's being said.
10 · Recommending, impersonally
Se aconseja beber dos litros de agua al día.
It is recommended to drink two liters of water a day.
Advice with no advisor named — softer than telling someone directly what to do.
11 · A rule, softened
Se ruega mantener silencio.
Please maintain silence.
Se ruega is the polite, formal version of asking — you'll see it printed on signs more than you'll hear it said.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/voice-overRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina |
|---|---|---|
| apartment for rent (sign) | Se renta depa | Se alquila depto |
| people work hard here | Aquí se chambea duro | Acá se labura a full |
| the food's great here | Aquí se come bien chido | Acá se come bárbaro |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Carla
Your grammar teacher for this pack
There's nothing to fill in and nothing to memorize by rote — in the Voice Over lessons you say it, and Carla keeps the se coming from real life. She asks how things are done where you're from — En mi país se celebra el Año Nuevo con fuegos artificiales — and you compare: En España se cena a las diez; en Alemania se cena a las seis. Then she has you narrate three steps of a recipe using only se — se cortan, se añade, se hornea — and finish with a belief from your culture: Se dice que… Out loud, until the agreement comes without thinking.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Voice Over is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Passive se has a noun the verb agrees with: Se alquilan habitaciones (plural verb, plural noun). Impersonal se has no subject at all and stays singular — it states how people in general do things: Se vive bien en esta ciudad.
In passive se the verb matches the noun's number: Se vende casa (one house) vs Se venden coches (plural). Same logic: Se necesita experiencia, but Se necesitan voluntarios.
"Spanish is spoken here" — the classic storefront sign in tourist areas (Se habla español / se habla inglés). Don't confuse it with reflexive se, where someone acts on themselves: Se habla a sí mismo — he talks to himself.
Instructions run on passive se, agreeing with each ingredient: Se cortan las verduras en trozos pequeños, se añade sal y pimienta al gusto, se hornea a 180 grados. In Mexico you'll hear agregar instead of añadir: Se le agrega sal al gusto.
Depends on the country: Mexican classifieds say Se renta depa amueblado, while Argentina and Uruguay post Se alquila depto a estrenar. Job notices use the same grammar: Se solicita personal means they're hiring.